46-3 = 41

[Tom Snyder]

Instead of passing through CBS HD, Channel 58 is running their test pattern on 46-2 tonight while they broadcast channel 41's programming on 46-2 in SD.

Wonder if this is part of a plan to piggyback the two on a multicast, or just part of a test.

[This message has been edited by Tom Snyder (edited 03-10-2002).]

[Greg Oman]

I was poking around last night to see what I could get on 46, and all I saw was the flowers on 46-1 about 7pm. I also had a bad hold problem, withthe image scrolling diagonally across the screen from the lower left to the upper right. Heavy pixelixation as well.

And that was while pointing the antenna to the east. I was getting nothing on .2-.5. Back to Madison to see how Jag came in, and it was just fine. I wish I could measure signal strength...

Has most of this stuff been happening later in the evening, say 8-10pm? I'll poke around tonight again if so.

Greg O.

[Tom Snyder]

My guess is that the scrolling flowers was a test... designed to give the engineers an opportunity to try and minimize the motion artifacts.

I'd even go as far as to wonder if they are attempting to see if they can get a decent picture on their main channel, while broadcasting content on a second channel. They also own channel 41, which I don't believe has been given its own digital channel. If they can find a way to broadcast 41 on a subchannel and still get a good HD picture for 58 on the main channel, that eliminates their coverage problem for 41. I don't think there's enough badnwidth, but I'm not an engineer. We'll see...

[Pat]

With the Big 10 tournament coming up and with many games being broadcast on 41, having the games on a sub-channel would be a good thing for me, since 41 comes in pretty crappy.

[Kevin Arnold]

WISC TV in Madison multicasts all the time with a Warner Bros. feed on 3-2 and the main CBS feed on 3-1. This seems to work out well with minimal problems when CBS in in HD. The WB14 feed is in standart 4:3 format. So 58 could probably pull off multicasting 41 on a subchannel. Real test is during fast moving sporting events in HD i.e. NCAA when we'll see if pixellation is a problem.

------------------
Kevin Arnold
38" RCA widescreen w/a Winegard on a rotor.

[Tom Snyder]

This 58/41 co-existance on the same bandwidth is just not gonna cut it. http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/ubb/frown.gif

I'm getting a 72 signal strength out here in G-Town, but with two signals, BOTH of them are constantly breaking up.... unwatchable.

[Todd Wiedemann]

I must be lucky, the 58/41 thing is working great for me. I have no signal strength meter on my Panny, but I've had it in the PIP and in the full screen, alternating between 1-1 and 1-2, no problems, dropouts what-so-ever.

For me, I'd like to have 41 on the multicast. I don't get it really well OTA.

My $0.02.

[SteveClemetson]

Out in Waukesha, my signal strength wavers between 93 and 100. I'm happy to be getting both channels "for the price of one".

[Joseph S]

Dump the simulcast immediately.

It ruins the HD broadcasts and the signal in Milwaukee is already about 20 below NBC and 10 below PBS. Even 100% is not enough to handle simulcasts with SDTV and HDTV. Please end this practice CBS, especially during primetime. I've read enough complaints about what simulcasts did to destroy olympic coverage in other areas.

[shawn123]

I must also call for no multicast while broadcasting HDTV. There is not enough bandwith for both. Please dont make this mistake CBS58!

[Steve Mann]

While I didn't seem to have any problems with dropout last night, though I didn't watch for long periods of time, I still think that multcasting is a bad idea. Trying to squeeze to much into one pipe never seems to cause anything but problems somewhere down the line.

[johnd]

I live in Burlington and can get 58 and 41 just fine. I also get most of the Chicago stations. I have not been able to get any Madison stations. I have a Winegard HD-8200 on order, with a Titan II preamp. My buddy won't crawl up on my roof until the snow is gone, so I'll have to wait. My TV is a Sony KP-53HS10,and I have the Sony SAT-HD100 reciever. I like them both.

[Tom Snyder]

Is 46 on the air tonight? Not getting any signal.

[SteveClemetson]

Me neither. I was really hoping to watch CSI in HD.

[Steve Mann]

Originally posted by SteveClemetson:
Me neither. I was really hoping to watch CSI in HD.

Me too. http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/ubb/frown.gif Damn, it's really hard to complain when they're not really live yet, but still... I sure was disappointed.

[Matt Heebner]

I kept checking also. I wasn't getting any picture, but my audio receiver kept saying it was getting a Dolby Digital 2.0 signal.
I was hoping to catch CSI in HD. I cant wait for NCAA action though!!!!!

Matt

[Tom Snyder]

Mystery solved!

I heard from Jim Hall last night, and he said that they have completed their over-the-air testing and now are working on a few behind the scenes issues. He expects them to be on 24x7 in the next couple of days and ready to go by the time the NCAA's start next week.

[Steve Mann]

Yes... that's very good news, Tom. They made it all well ahead of schedule. Congrats to them all at the station!

[rnelson]

Hi I've been out of town and busy. I have tried to get 46 several times however but no luck. I get an 82 on 4-1 and 79 on 10-1,10-4.
This Waterford Area is low and there are lot's of towers around. I'm sure there is a reason for that.

Roy

[Todd Wiedemann]

Could someone find out if they will be switching to 58-1, 58-2, etc ?

I would hope so, but stranger things have been known to happen.

------------------
Todd.
-------
Mitsubishi 55819
Panasonic TU-HDS20
Apex AD-600A

[Tom Snyder]

Yeah... I've got trees between me and 46's tower, and I'm 30 miles away...but still...why can I get a solid 90 on channel 28, and solid upper 80's on channel 8, but never anything higher than 70 on 46 (and that's after I tweak my antenna for a half hour), with continuing fluctuation bewtten no signal and 70 and everything in between? I think that from out here, all the towers are in the same direction.

Is it lower power, higher frequency, or something else?

[Tom Snyder]

I guess I'll ask Jim in the live chat on Wednesday night. http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/ubb/smile.gif